Explosive Passion
by xenofan1
Summary: Louise hates Kirche von Zerbst, with a passion. Although, in a very strange twist of event, she ended up being the girl's familiar. Can the two coexist with each other and maybe, just maybe come to an understanding and maybe more ? Or is two explosive personalities just too much to survive one another ?
1. The Day that Ruined our Lives

Sheeps and explosions. That's what Louise de La Vallière's dreams were filled with. She liked sheeps, just not when they were blown away by her own magical failures, even in dreams she wasn't even able to do anything great to her biggest dismay. Once, just once she wanted to do something her parents could be proud of, even in imagination land, was that too much to ask, or was the world that determined to screw with her ?

That is when Louise realized even though she was awake, she wasn't actually seeing anything, how most peculiar, aaand that it was waaaay too warm for a pillow. It takes her quite a while to actually start to figure out what was going on before widdening her eyes, all she could see is tan skin, and two beautiful large orbs only contained by a blue lingerie bra that she happened to have been laying between. A small tiny part of her wanted to stay there and snuggle but the other bigger part was absolutely mortified as she realized where she was and who's bossom that was.

She immediately tries to get the hell out of there as face as she could before feeling the arms in her back pushing her back in. Which she probably didn't mind as much as she would say or as much as she should. She still had some dignity god damn it ! If she was seen between the mammaries of a Zerbst, that would destroy her family name forever ! As she continues trying to squirm out, she finally hears some signs of consciousness from the foreign native girl.

'' Mmmmh... please more ~ ''

What did she honestly expect from that lewd beast ? Is what Louise wondered as she really wondered how to get their attention, she didn't especially want to spend the rest of her, fastly coming end of her life, so she tries her best to make out at least some form of communication

'' Wake up you cow ! We'll be late for class ! '' Is what she tries to say but in her position, most of it probably came out of as a bunch of smothered mumbles, but nevertheless, it does manage to wake Kirche up from her sleep, whatever she was dreaming about will most likely remain a mystery.

Kirche does wake up, looking confused, generally when someone woke her up, it was either Tabitha because she was lot, or one of her many fans who wanted a round with her, which is something she never actually gave them, but teasing them with it is what always kept them on their toes and following her around.

So it actually takes her quite a bit to figure out who was talking, the morning syndrome, before she looks down and sees the pink hair sticking out, she raises an eyebrow surprised. Before remembering everything that happened, she chuckles as she finally release the girl from her. Which finally lets Louise get some well needed air, feeling her lungs get filled again was a relief.

'' Oh thank Brimir, I thought I would die right there '' Louise says immensly relieved of having some more time added to her life span.

'' Would you really have complained about it though ? '' Kirche responds with a teasing wink towards the smaller mage, which causes her to blush and clinch her teeth in frustration.

'' Shut up Zerbst ! '' That was all she was able to answer to that and that was something the fire mage obviously noticed, although she decided not to play with that yet, she had obviously other stuff like going to class, Kirche was maybe a shameless flirt but she took her studies as seriously as anyone else, although, yeah, it is a bit more difficult to wake up on some days. And the incident that lead to this didn't exactly thrill her either. As she was stretching a bit, she looked at Louise

'' Zero, please go grab my clothes '' She asked in a nice which was ironic considering the use of the slur, but somewhat authorative voice.

'' Go grab it yours- OUCH '' Louise lets out a small scream as she felt an electric shock that suddenly reminded her of the horrible situation she was in, she looked at her hand and there it was at her biggest dismay and horror. The seal of the Ritual. The picture graved on her hand that will remind her of the day that ruined her entire life. She could remember it like it was yesterday, perhaps because it was. But even if it wasn't, she was sure that she could remember every single minute of it in her mind ten years in the future. Thinking about that brings her back to when this whole mess started.

The day had started like every single day of her life did, but this one was a bit more special, she could feel it, there was a bit of excitement, but she mostly felt pressure, she knew that this was a very important day and that if she failed, she would be forever be casted as the failure most people already pointed her to be. She wanted to prove them wrong, she wanted to show them all she could be even more powerful than any of them. She just need one thing to go her way. Just one thing is all she was asking for.

The previous day hadn't been great with her blowing up a classroom and almost getting detention again, so by all means, if karma was an actual thing, it'd let her have this one be a good day right ? Well, Louise learned a while ago that karma was, forgive the language, an utter bitch, since all of her time at this academy had been bad days so far. So all she could do that day was to believe in herself that from this day on, things will get better. She would succeed her spell, get an awesome familiar and become a mage her family could be proud of. Yes, that is the only thing she could pray for at that time.

She walks down the hall reading her spell again and again, wanting to make sure at 100% that she wouldn't screw anything up while doing the ritual, and of course, like everytime she doesn't look where she is going, she bumps into someone, and that someone was probably the worst possible person that she could encounter. She looks up to see the smirking face of Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt-Zerbst, or as Louise simply called her Zerbst. Because it didn't care who she was, in the end, she was a Zerbst, the bane of her family's existence.

'' Awww, is that the Zero studying before her failure ? How adorable ''

Here was in one sentence most of the reasons why Louise despised this woman, she was shameless, arrogant and mean. Everything she said seemed to have poison put in it somehow, if it actually had, Louise would have died of poisoning a while ago, she looked aside to see a blue haired mage. Her name was Tabitha, Louise... didn't know much about her, she was generally pretty quiet and never really insulted her, she was generally a very studious and calm one. She always wondered why she was always hanging out with that succubus Zerbst, her only guess was that some sort of blackmail must have occured at some point, there just was no way otherwise.

'' Shut up you... '' She wasn't able to come up with a creative insult this time, she just clinched her teeth angrily, shaking a bit

'' You're not gonna ruin my big moment ! I'll finally get one over you ! '' She said angrily

'' Awww does the little one have big dreams ? So cute, do you wanna mommy to hug you too ? '' Kirche answered teasingly, showing off her body as per her usual, probably just to piss Louise off, which of course she did.

To be honest for a few minutes, Louise thought was an incredibly attractive woman, gorgeous even. When she first came to this Academy, one of the big reasons she discovered she was the way she was was most likely her. Did that matter in the slightest ? Absolutely not, Louise still loathed that girl, she would probably rather kiss a troll than having her lips touch hers or come anywhere close. Because it didn't matter how sexy she was, she was still a terrible person who spent most of her day ridiculing her and making her feel bad about herself. This is what Louise kept in her heart for all these years.

She hurried past the two, Kirche was laughing at that while Tabitha did look a little bit concerned for a bit before looking back to her book spells. Eventually Louise did make her way to the field. Several students were already there, not even looking worried in the slightest that they would have the perfect familiar for them, who they would have long partnership with and adventures. Louise was barely able to stand, that was how nervous she was. If she failed here, she could get kicked out of the academy, how would she even be able to face them after that? That was probably the biggest embarrasement she could ever give them, failing to summon a familiar.

She barely is able to focus when the teacher comes to talk about how important this ritual was, talking about basically what was just said in the paragraph before this one. As she tries to relax, a very irritating person sneaks behind her

'' Oh Louise ! I'm looking forward to what kind of amazing familiar you summon '' Kirche said in a very obviously mocking tone. Which made Louise even more stressed.

'' Leave me alone... '' She simply answered, she was too focused to get angry right now about petty things like that.

Kirche chuckles after she does that and goes back to her own usual spot, she wouldn't admit it, but she was also pretty nervous, teasing Louise was always something that cooled her nerves down so that's pratically something she did more by habit than anything at this point, especially right now, that she knew that her turn was coming up soon. Guiche the guy before her summoned a mole which made her laugh out loud, she didn't really like him, even though they did have a few similiarities, they were both big flirts, but while she was doing it as more as a harmless game, he seemed really serious about flirting with other girls, which wasn't something Kirche was a big fan of, but she ignored it, like most people did.

Before she even realized it, it was the Germanian turn to summon, she took a deep breathe and smiled confidently as she took a step forward, she could feel the stink eye Louise was giving her, but right now she couldn't bother with that, it was her time to shine, she wondered what familiar she would get, maybe a salamander ? That would be pretty nice, easy to train and pretty fitting with the type of magic she was using. Either way, she was more than confident than anything she would summon would be right up with the Zerbst's family alley.

She stands in the middle of the field and smiles as she starts her incantation, and of course she decided to be dramatic with it, before, why would she not ? It was her moment.

'' My name is Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt-Zerbst, in the name of the founder and the Great Five Pentagon Powers, I summon thee, who shall be as fierce as I, with the fire and passion to follow the Zerbst family through the fire and danger. Appear ''

As she finished her incantation, she looked impatient for what was to come, although she was surprised instead of a small thing appearing in the air like it did for most people, the spell suddenly made a giant explosion of light that blinded people for a good couple seconds, the spell wasn't supposed to do an explosion, what happened ? Kirche wondered as she got shivers in the back at the simple thought she might have screwed up the spell.

It takes a few minutes for the smoke to disappear, and a shocking sight was revealed, Louise and Kirche staring at each other as the pink girl had just appeared in front of the red haired one. It takes a good solid minute for the both of them to process this before their faces fell on the both of them and they started screaming in terror at the reality of it. Even Tabitha looked genuinely shocked as this turn of event, which was a pretty rare occurance, not that she showed it much but she really was

'' This can't be real, this must be a mistake ! '' Kirche screamed angrily, looking at Colbert, the teacher for answer, but the man was just as clueless as everyone was, this was unheard of, a student had just summoned another student, the probabilty of that happening, it almost gave him an headache trying to figure out how unlikely this was. He coughed, trying to control the situation

'' I... as a teacher this is the first time I've seen anything of the sort, but this seems not to be a mistake, look around miss Zerbst ''

She looks and sees on the ground at Louise's feet, they were runes and symbols, she had genuinely been invoked there. The girl was more than terrified as becoming someone's familiar was the last of her plans

'' I can't be a familiar ! Let me go now ! '' She says angrily, or more panicked than anything really. She was beyond terrified and confused about this whole situation and what it could mean. Colbert was sweating hard trying to figure out something, but there wasn't much he could do right now, there was absolutely no precedent of this happening. At least not in recorded history.

'' I'm sorry miss Vallière but there's not much we can do right now, this has never happened before in the history of this Academy. The ritual has to be completed, otherwise you won't be able to get out of the summoning circle '' He explained

Louise looked at the ground annoyed, she tried to move to get out of there, but no matter what she did, she was always brought back to it, not without some good old electric shocks either, she was on the verge of tears. Why was this happening ?

Kirche wasn't in a much better state either, either she did a much better job of hiding it. Why by all that was mighty, from every being in the entire world did she had to have the Zero as a familiar ? What did she do to deserve this ? Okay, actually she could think of a few things, but nothing that would ruin her life like this ! What would her parents say ? This had a lot of implications and none of them were good. She took a deep breathe, and looked at her friend Tabitha for support. The girl looked generally pretty confused about the situation but tried to give Kirche a smile, which wasn't something she did often, but figured this is what her friend needed right now. She turned back to Colbert.

'' This is only temporary right ? '' She asked annoyed.

'' Well, until we find a solution to this, hopefully yes. '' That did relieve Kirche a bit, just the possibility of there being a solution to this mess already helped a lot. Unfortunately, that didn't help Louise who was still fuming and screaming about this whole thing, the fire mage came to her and put her fingers under her chin, she knew what needed to be done to complete the ritual. Both knew, although one was a lot more horrified by the idea than the other.

Kirche stared into her eyes to shut up, because she knew perfectly she was gonna scream again, Louise did shut up, but only because she had used up all her voice, which Kirche with a smirk used to complete the ritual, pressing her lips on Louise's, whose eyes widden for a second, looking angry, confused and slightly aroused as they kissed. It was mostly Kirche doing most of the work, but Louise did gave in for a few seconds before they broke apart.

Louise stood still for several second, she felt like she was just gonna die from sheer embarrassement any second now, before she started feeling the seal on her hand, confirming her fate, which made her faint. Kirche caught her before she fell to the ground, the crowd, that felt very awkward about what had just occured had been spread out by the teacher. Kirche bit her lip a bit as she held who was apparently her new familiar, she had no idea what she was gonna do. But the only thing she knew is that it happened, and that both of them would have to live the best they could with that fact. At least it wouldn't be boring that's for sure.

_**Alright boys and girls, this is my first chapter of this story, I feel this one might be a bit short, but who knows ? Here, I'll answer a few questions before you all go, if you haven't before.**_

**Why ?**_** Because I feel it's a ship that's not done a lot, even less as a main ship. Which is a shame since they do have a pretty unique chemistry, in a weird way. **_

**Is Saito ever gonna appear ? :** **I'll answer that with aaaa maybe. I still haven't figured that one yet. **

**Is it still gonna follow the storyline ? : **_**I need to rewatch the anime for that, but I intend at least the beginning, to follow some key events, and well, make up some new stuff too along the way. With this premise and the implications, a lot of interesting stuff can happen. **_

_**If you guys have other questions, don't hesitate to ask, same if you have feedback, I hope you guys all have a good day and enjoyed this chapter.**_

_**Xenofan1**_


	2. Taking the First Steps

_I'll start witht his because I forgot last time and that it's polite._

_I do NOT own Zero No Tsukaiama, that's the intellectual property of Noboru Yamaguchi_

* * *

We now finally return to the present time where Louise finally gave Kirche her clothes, not without a lot of whining along the way. She was also terribly annoyed at how much time it took her to put them on, if she didn't know any better, she would think that she was doing some sort of reverse strip tease. Which in all honesty, she was a bit surprised it wasn't. Anyway, she turned her back on her letting her finish what she had to do, Louise was not looking forward to anything at all. If possible, she would very much like just locking herself in her room and never coming out, ever. Because there was just no way she could show herself to anyone, the shame would just be too much, but of course, that was just a pipedream.

After a while of preparing herself mentally for the humiliation, Kirche came behind her with a smirk and pet her on the head.

'' Are you ready to go to class... pet? '' She says with her usual shit-eating smirk that Louise hated so much. And the fact she called her that didn't exactly help the situation either, she of course turns around and get mad at her.

'' Don't call me your pet, you filthy monkey ! I am a human being, not some dog you picked up from the side of the road ! '' She screamed, feeling her face get red in anger. The only reaction it gave Kirche was a good laugh. God she loved when Louise got mad, she found her just absolutely adorable when she did.

'' I know, but what do you want me to call you ? I can't call you Zero either, I mean I would, but now that you're my familiar, there would be no point in making myself look more bad than necessary by insulting you more. ''

'' What about you just call me by my name then Zerbst ? '' Louise answered angrily, sending every single bit of nasty she could muster while saying the family's name of her rival. Which only prompted her to raise an eyebrow.

'' One, you're my familiar, I will call you how I see fit, and two, if you're gonna dishonour my family name by using it as an insult, I really have no reason to grant you your request, you'll have to earn your name by playing nice pet '' Louise growled in anger before hearing a few knocks on the door, Kirche seemed to know who it was because she happily went to the door and opened the door. It revealed Tabitha, who seemed surprised for a second to see Louise there, before remembering yesterday's events and recovering her composure.

'' Interrupting ? '' The blue haired mage asked unsure. Kirche smiled before hugging her friend tight.

'' Of course not darling Tabby ! Me and my familiar were just getting acquainted with each other ~ '' She says with a smile, which grants her to receive menacing glare from Louise unsurprisingly. If this is what she called getting acquainted with each other, Louise was very scared what she considered to be more negative interactions.

Tabitha looked at Louise, it looked like she wanted to say something but she shut her mouth pretty quickly, now probably was not the time and place for discussion, she would have the occasion at another point surely. She just shakes her head looking at her friend.

'' Time for class. '' She simply said, which reminded Kirche who almost forgot why she woke up in the first place after that interesting morning to say the least. She took her stuff her held her new familiar by the arm, same for Tabitha

'' Oh yeah, let's go then ! We wouldn't want to miss class do we ? '' She asks teasingly at Louise who just pouts and doesn't answer, there was no point to it anyway, she just wanted to get this hell over with.

* * *

Walking through the halls felt like being a prisonner walking the death row. Louise could feel every pair of eyes on her even more than usual, even if she wasn't in leash, there might as well be one, for everyone, she had just basically become Kirche's slave. Which probably attracted some jealousy from really weird people and the mockery of most female students they encountered. She just wanted to become invisible at that moment.

Kirche her, was mostly try to keep her appearance intact, that wasn't something Louise couldn't see, but Kirche had definitely lost some power by summoning her, it wasn't much, but she could hear some jokes from a bit of whispering. That's why she was walking with confidence and no fear, to keep her appearance intact. That meant of course showing off as much as she could, which angered Louise, but not in the way she herself expected it. It wasn't as much angry that Kirche was showing off basically mocking her... well correction, there certainly was that, but there was some hint of jealousy in her anger, that others could lay eyes on her body. She catch that thought pretty quickly and buries it deep within, she sooo didn't need that right now.

Eventually, for the greatest relief of the pink mage, they did make their way to the classroom, not that the situation here was so much better, she could feel the mockery in the other students eyes all the same but at least there were less of them and she could focus on the actual lesson to distract herself from that, although it was difficult to focus since being her familiar, she was sat right next to Kirche. Usually before this whole thing happened, she would make sure to sit faaaaar away from the fire user. At least like that she could avoid her for the most part, but now that was impossible, she was basically stuck to her sides 24/7. But now that she mentionned that, there was something she noticed that she hadn't before. Kirche was actually kinda warm, not in a hot summer day warm, but it reminded her during cold winters when she would sit around the fireplace with her sister Cattleya, it was actually a really comforting kind of warmth. Which again, is something Louise would NEVER admit outloud. But right now, she would just enjoy it to calm herself and focus on the class. At least she found one perk to that girl's existence.

As for Kirche, the same vibe was still always there from earlier, she contiues to try and ply it cool, like this was a regular day at the Academy, but there was such a big elephant in the room and it was hard not to just stand up and adress it, but now probably wasn't the time and place for that. One of the big reasons was, if she acknowledged it, she knew that it gave them power. Which is obviously something that wasn't really in her interests especially. She sighs, she gives sidelooks at Louise during her class. As terrible this situation was, the Zerbst could always console herself she wasn't alone in the misery, even if the problem itself is being associated with her rival, just the fact knowing she's probably going through the same thing helps. She can't really tell if this is better for Louise or worse. On one hand, she wasn't especially popular beforehand because she was the Zero, but on the other hand, going from mage to familiar was probably not the best either. All and all, this was terrible for both of them overall. That much she could figure.

During the class although, she was a bit surprised at how relaxed and calm her familiar seemed to be, to be fair with her, when she wasn't talking, Louise really wasn't THAT bad. When she did, it was another story, but otherwise she wasn't bad company. This class was going better than she expected and that was for the best, but still, she still was very confused and honestly kinda afraid about this whole thing. She couldn't talk about it with Louise that was for sure, she would probably call her names and the usual routine. So Tabitha was probably the best option, she was her best friend after all, she would listen to her hopefully. Kirche usually wasn't one to be very sentimental, she was passionnate for sure, but not really good when it came to complex feelings like fear and nervosity. Perhaps her friend could help her with that.

Although, Louise will still be a problem, unless she gives her what to do, she might follow here, just purely by default, or because she is drop-dead gorgeous, but that's pretty unlikely. Although that last one is simply a fact, but she doubt Louise would do that, almost unfortunately, it'd make things a lot easier. As the class bell ring, she walks to her friend Tabitha and whispered in her ear.

'' Hey, can we meet in the library, I... kinda need to talk about this... whole thing ''

Tabitha who was reading, nodded. She understood perfectly, if her friend needed to talk, she would be here for her, actually, it was a bit of a relief that Kirche was coming to her for this, it did show that the fire mage had some trust in her as a friend, which was always a great thing. Even if they were a odd pair, they did genuinely care for each other. Louise though was a bit suspicious.

'' Hey, what are you two whispering about ?! Are you slandering me again you cow tits ?! ''

Kirche turned back towards Louise, okay, how to handle this situation. Plan A, let's handle this like she handle most situation. By being a flirt. Should work out great. She laid on a desk towards her, showing plenty of cleavage.

'' Nooo absolutely not at all my pet, me and Tabitha are just having a conversation that all ''

Louise blushed hard as she knew perfectly what Kirche was doing, but couldn't help herself but stare anyway. Curse that enchanting witch. She shakes her head, looking away pouting

'' Don't you use your weapons of mass seduction on me ! You're the worst ! '' She said sounding angry, and frustrated.

Okay, so that plan totally didn't work as intended, Kirche sighed, now was time for plan B. Keeping Louise busy with something.

'' Soooo... me and Tabby here kinda want some time together and I wouldn't want my sweet pet to get bored ! So I have a few clothes that I would want you to wash in my room, thank you ~ ''

Louise sighed, of course that was the kind of job she would be ended up stuck doing, to be fair to Kirche for one second, that was also the kind of stuff she was planning to make her familiar do, if she had one. Just the fact that she ended up in the situation where she was the one that would have to wash some other person's clothes was really annoying and kinda disgusting.

'' Yeah...sure...fine, not like I have much of a choice don't I ? '' She declares raising an eyebrow

'' Nope ~ '' Kirche answers winking and chuckling. Louise then grumbled

'' Alright, guess I'll see you later... Zerbst '' She said before leaving the room, Kirche sighed at that, making her call her by her name would be a bit more difficult than she anticipated. Tabitha arrived at her side, having watched this whole conversation, she could probably see where these two stand. Kirche nodded at her and they went to the library, at least when she was with Tabby and not with the Zero, people were not as judgemental, boys looked at her like usual and seemed to be talking a lot less about the fiasco. They enter the library and find an empty spot to talk. Tabitha looked straight into Kirche's eyes and asked

'' What did you want to start talking about first ? ''

'' I don't know... the fact I have no idea what I'm doing ? And that it's very scary ? '' She said looking at her friend who waits a bit.

'' Go on... '' Tabitha invited her to go on more about that

'' Like, yesterday, I was the queen of the school ,every guy and even some girls wanted to bed me. Most of them still do, but now... I see other things in their eyes, I'm a failure Tabby. I failed at the most essential thing of all. Not only that, Louise of all people. That made that whole thing a double failure ! I never failed in my whole life, what am I supposed to do now ? '' She said sounding discouraged, Tabitha simply tilted her head a bit confused

'' A failure ? Are you sure ? '' Which surprised Kirche a bit

'' Why the question, of course it is ! I invoked a fellow student Tabby ! That's not what's supposed to happen ! I'm suppose to have a cool familiar that I can show off and make my family proud, that is success, what I did is the total opposite of that ! ''

'' You still invoked something right ? You remember how that works right ? If you failed, simply nothing would have showed up.''

'' Then what exactly do you mean Tabby ? '' Kirche asked, even more confused than she was at the start of that conversation.

'' The summoning ritual summons the being that is the most fitting for you, it never sets anyone for failure. It is simple Destiny at works. ''

'' Oh yeah, because I'm sure Destiny will be great with someone that only's strength is blowing stuff up ! '' Kirche said frustrated, before Tabitha leaned in, looking serious. Having her lean in made Kirche lean back a bit taken aback.

'' Perhaps, this is where your Destiny lies, there is many possible reasons why it decided that you two would be the best pairing possible for each other. ''

'' Oh and what could that be ? ''

'' Kirche, you are talented...but lack displine. Louise lacks guidance, but determined. '' Tabitha simply says, Kirche was starting to get the idea, but still it felt like a bit of a stretch.

'' Wait, do you mean like, it wants me to help her ? How would I even do that, I called her Zero for a reason ! She never succeeded at a single spell, and we've been here an entire year ! What even is the point of me even trying ? ''

'' Potential '' Tabitha answers, short and straight to the point, that did sound a lot more like the Tabitha Kirche knew and loved (not in that way though).

Kirche rubbed her temples, even if she went with the idea that Louise had even the smallest glince of potential, how in the world would she able to make that work ? She would probably have an easier time trying to dodge rain during a storm. But her friend did have a point, the ritual always have some sort of reasoning for the pairs that occurs, so was there really a mistake ? Or was there actually a reasoning for why Louise is now her partner ? Either way, it really doesn't sound like it's gonna be an easy time. She thinks about that for several minutes before sighing, she decides to switch subject to talk some lighter subjects with her friend like romance (which Tabitha gave litteraly no contribution in) and some of the new spells they would learn in class until they would go their separate ways hours later.

* * *

Louise had an encounter of her own during that same period of time, let's go back to when she left the classroom. She obviously wasn't in a great mood, one because of what she had to do. Two, because without Kirche by her side, the other students were a lot more ruthless and open about throwing insults at her, she guessed that earlier that those jackasses didn't want to ruin their chances with Kirche by openly insulting her familiar in her presence. As much as she dislikes that tits bag, that was another perk she found today, minimalizing the bullying.

She arrived back in the room, she was finally be able to take an actual good look at it, it was a lot less decadent than she thought it'd be. It look a lot more fancy she expected, although not in her own tastes for sure, it had a very Germanian feel to it. Which makes sense, she probably wanted to make something that felt like home to her, but it felt so foreign to Louise, she then just shrugged, she would most likely get used to it in time, she looks around for a while for the clothing she was talking about until she finally found a basket that was found of laundry, it was probably the clothes she was talking about. She took it and went out of the room, then she realized her first problem. She had no idea how to do that. At home, she had servants to do it, that's also the reason why she was planning for her familiar to do it. This was a problem.

She looks around panicked for a bit, until she found a maid walking around, most likely either going to her job or coming out of it she came out of it, she rushes to her looking panicked

'' Help me wash those now commoner ! '' She said in a tone that was halfway authorative and desperate. The maid just look utherly confused about that whole situation.

'' Wait, what ? W-who are you ? '' She asked taking a step back

'' I'm Louise de la Vallière, now pleeeease help me wash those ! '' Louise said now in a voice who was a lot more begging than anything.

'' Louise de la... oh you're the girl that- '' She stopped herself right there, it wouldn't be polite of her as a maid to comment on that, she hadn't seen it for herself, but she had heard the rumour going around that a noble had summoned another noble as a familiar, amongst the working staff, that was a fantastic joke. It felt like the ultimate middle finger the universe could give those privileged kids, but the maid felt horrible for whoever that happened too, which seemed to be her.

'' Follow me then '' She says with a polite smile, she led her to a trough, that she filled with water. '' This is the place where I do laundry for others usually, because it's not as busy as other places '' She says to Louise with a kind smile '' Now just watch me do it ''

Louise looked at her for a few minutes as she looked how the maid cleaned some clothes, then tried to do it herself. Thankfully, picking up on how to clean clothes was a lot easier and a lot less explosive than doing spells so she was able to pick up on that pretty quickly, although she was reaaaallly questionning what she was cleaning half the time, a good third of it was sexy lingerie, which honestly wasn't surprising, but was really awkward. It didn't seem to affect the maid though, she probably had enough mental discipline and experience to not care. Although this wasn't the case for Louise who keeps having images of Kirche wearing those risque outfits which she would have to admit, would probably look amazing on her. She shakes those thoughts off. The maid look up at her.

'' Are you okay ? '' She asked concerned

'' Sorry... just... a way too long day that's all '' She answers sighing.

'' Does it have to do with the thing people have been talking about ? ''

She looked at the maid with a panicked face, what had the people been talking about ?! Did scandaleous rumours already started spreading ?

'' Whoever they're telling, it's a lie ! I'd rather kiss a frog with herpes rather than Zerbst ! '' She says getting a bit angry, which surprises the maid who stops for a minute trying to understand what in the world she was talking about.

'' I...was refering to the familiar thing. I...You two's business in the chambers do not concern a maid like me '' She says, which makes Louise flush from embarrasement then cough

'' Oh ! Uh sorry... yeah, it's just been... a whiplash of emotion. I don't even stand her and suddenly I'm her familiar ? I'm a noble by Founder's sake ! I never felt more ashamed and humiliated in my life and I'm sure she's loving every minute of it '' Louise says clenching her teeth.

'' That bad uh ? ''

'' Of course it's that bad, she hates me and I hate her ! I cannot fathom the horrible things she will do to me until they figure out how to solve this mess. ''

'' Why do you two hate each other ? '' The maid asked as she continued to wash clothes

'' For several reasons, one, she's a Zerbst and I am a Vallière, we are natural enemies. Two, she was always the biggest bully I had since I got here, always making me feel miserable ever since I got here, it's been better lately, but I cannot forgive her for that.''

'' Maybe don't you think it's time to.. uh... bury that hatchet then ?''

Louise stared very angrily at the maid, who looked down shyly

'' Choose your next words very carefully ''

'' I...I mean... everyone knows about you two and... it's not always good stuff being said s-so...m-maybe it'd be easier for you two... if you got along ? ''

Louise laughed hard at that, her and Zerbst ever getting along, that girl might as well have asked if she could make a unicorn appear, because that has as much chances of occuring, she can't even imagine a universe where the two got ever along better than slight dislike, let alone getting along.

'' Oh yeah, how do you want me to do that ? She's the biggest meanie around ! If I try to be kind, I'm sure she'll be just twice as mean to bring my hopes down again like she has done for this entire year. ''

The maid sighed, looking at Louise, she put a comforting hand on her shoulder with a smile. Usually, Louise would never let a commoner touch her or do anything of that sort, but right now, she didn't care, she needed something like that.

'' You don't know that, look, you are her familiar right ? I don't know much about this stuff but... doesn't that mean you will be with that person a lot ? I think it's really in your best interest to at least try. If this doesn't work out, you can always come to me to vent okay ? I'm usually always here at his hour '' She says with a chuckle

'' Maybe it's worth a try '' Louise mutter, even if the thought of trying to be friendly with a Zerbst was litteraly made her want to vomit, it seemed like the reasonable option, she might as well try to make things easier for herself until they find a solution to that problem, well, anyway, they don't need to be best friend. Just enough so she doesn't hate her.

After that they continued to wash the clothes until it was finally done, the maid stood up to go on her way until Louise realised she never got her name.

'' Oh by the way I don't think I got your name ? '' She asked in a hurry before she left, the maid jumped a little realizing that she had indeed forgot to present herself

'' Oh my bad, I'm so sorry, my name is Siesta ! ''

Louise smiled, even if that day hadn't gone so great, at least it seemed that she had made a friend, which, now that she was thinking about it had never happened before in her whole time at this school. This brought the grade of this overall day by a lot. She gave a polite bow at the maid

'' Good evening then Siesta ! Thanks a lot for the help ! '' It was as much about the cleaning than about the advices really, it was maybe not that much, but it did help her get a good idea of how she wanted to approach things from now on.

'' You're welcome Lady Louise '' Siesta smiles before leaving, leaving Louise in the court looking at the clothes, she just takes one of the bra and raises an eyebrow

'' Are they really that big ? ''

* * *

Kirche launches herself on the bed, exhausted by the day she had, looking around the room, it seems that Louise still wasn't back, she wondered where she might have been ? She hoped she didn't run away or something like that, but most likely it took more time than expected. She takes off her clothes, putting them on the ground as she rests, thinking back about this first day with this new situation.

'' It wasn't that bad all things considered, just wish things were different still. For the both of us '' She sighs with a sigh.

Eventually, her familiar did come back carrying the laundry, Kirche decided to tease her a bit, posing seductively, trying a different technique, showing off more her rear than her bust this time, as usual it did caught the pink mage's eyes, who sighed. It was a pretty nice sight to come back to, if she hadn't already been teased several times today and she wasn't tired as shit from an exhausting day

'' Came for your reward ~ '' Kirche said with a teasing smirk, more playful than anything serious

'' Not tonight Zerbst... '' Louise says sighing as she puts the clothes on a table and sits on her side of the bed, her slip up did amuse Kirche quite a lot who decided to play a little bit more

'' Not tonight ? You mean tomorrow it would be okay? '' She says with a wink

'' For Bilmir's sake, you know what I meant you boob demon ! '' She says sounding annoyed, but mostly embarrassed from her slip up.

Kirche laughed hard as she moved back and went back to laying on her side of the bed, teasing her was defintively the best part of this whole deal. She doesn't necessarily mean all of it, but it was fun and she had the best reactions of anyone she ever flirted with.

'' You know, I know one day you'll say yes, and you better be ready for when you do because I'll be ferocious '' She makes a predatory growl before laughing at Louise's embarrasement

'' Oh god pleassee stoooop '' She whines, she then lays down also '' Can we please... just sleep now ? ''

'' That sounds fine with me, anyway, I feel we'll be needing as much rest as we possibly can have, good night Louise '' She says smiling, which cause Louise to freeze for a bit. Kirche had called her by her actual name, what the heck ? What did that mean ? Not Zero ? No Pet name, what exactly did happen between the time where they both left each other. What should she even answer to that ? It would be terribly mean of her to not say anything, she wants to say a normal Zerbst, but she recalls Siesta's words, she needs to make efforts on her end so they can survive each other, at least tolerate each other. She didn't want to call her by her name, because calling her Kirche would mean she acknowledged her and she didn't know if she wanted to give her that satisfaction, but at the same time... what the heck.

'' Good night Kirche... '' She says sleepily before falling asleep. What she didn't see was the smile that appeared on the fire user's face as she heard her say her name.

* * *

**Ok, I have NO idea how this ended up being so long. Sooo yeah 2 chapters in 2 days, might be a new record for me. But that was my attempt at a early Christmas present for you all. The fact I received good feedbacks on my first chapter was a great motivator also ! I'm glad people like it and like the idea of it, this ship deserves indeed more attention and in the end, I'm just writing a story I wished there was already.**

**By the way, took a good time to think while writing this and Saito would be too much of a headache to put into this story for the very little he would give to this story, so he is officialy out of this. Good, gives more space for the Yuri.**

**This chapter was all about taking those first couple of steps. Including actually saying the person's name. If you guys have anymore feedback on the story, like last time, don't hesitate to let them in the reviews and I hope you enjoyed this special long chapter !**

**Xenofan1**


	3. When The Dust Settles

_I do NOT own Zero No Tsukaiama, that's the intellectual property of Noboru Yamaguchi_

* * *

The next day started basically just as awkwardly as the other one had, except this time, they didn't really talk to each other waking up. In a way it was maybe an upgrade, because if they did, they most likely would have fought on some shape or form. So perhaps silence was the best possible option in this scenario. Today was the day where masters were freed of class to bond with their familiar. Both of them feared that day, because they knew if that day didn't end with one of them murdering the other, that would be truly a miracle.

Though, Kirche had a plan. Based on what Tabitha said yesterday, as her master, the best course of action would probably to check what she is capable of, see what she can do to help to make sure she isn't a total embarrasement. If she could find the slightest set of skills in her, then this thing might be worth it, if not, then she knew she was in this for a long and rough ride, and not the kind she would usually enjoy.

As for Louise, she was just annoyed, the thought of spending more time with Zerbst was not necessarily the top things she wished to be doing right now. The number one being actually being a mage and having her own familiar to order around and manage. But no, apparently the world wanted to punish her even more for reasons unknown to her. Some god really liked to make her miserable. Because he's succeeding.

She was sitting on the ground pouting as she was waiting for Kirche to show up to the field, considering that is where she asked her to meet up, you would think that she would arrive here a little quicker than that, but noooo. It seemed that the Germanian sure seemed to like take her sweet time.

What did take so many times was Kirche going to the libraries to take the scrolls she would need for today. She wanted today to be some practice and to see if Louise was as terrible as she showed to be, she had a good idea of the answer, but to establish to level where her familiar was, she would have to do this.

She did eventually make her way to Louise, who obviously was getting pretty tired of waiting on her own. Trying to ignore other's mockeries was also very annoying, so at least having something to do to distract from that would be great, she frowns as she sees Kirche arrived.

'' What in the actual world took you so long Zerbst? All the others already left with their familiars like, 30 minutes ago! Did you fuck three guys on the way or something? ''

Kirche sighed, there was a lot of unbox in a few sentence, she took a deep breathe, she was trying to think back about what Tabitha said the day before and not just strangle the girl, after she calmed down enough she looked back and spoke.

'' No I didn't, and even if I did, I doubt heavily this is something you would want me to talk about. Or maybe you are lewder than I thought and you want to, but that's not the point. As for why I was actually late... well.. I am your mistress am I not? ''

She put on the ground the scrolls that she was carrying with her.

'' Then it is my job to make sure my familiar is up to standards. I wouldn't want you to embarrass yourself when trying to do stuff therefore embarrassing ME in the process. So I gathered scrolls so we can try your skills again, and see if you're at least not horrible at at least one of them. If you can be at least a Dot, we'll call this a win. ''

The way she said that didn't made Louise happy, it seemed like she was a lot more interested in her own self-interests than she was in actually helping her.

'' I almost want to fail all of them on purpose if it can make you look bad Zerbst, but I won't because I'm not actually a terrible person. ''

Kirche rubbed her hair a bit, she could actually tell that making her do anything would be a very difficult experience, teamwork was clearly not there yet, but there would have to at some point right? Right?

'' Yeah, you wouldn't be that much of a winner in that situation, and why do you come back to call me Zerbst Louise? Especially after last night? '' She says in teasing manner

'' For that, for exactly that reason you just did. I was exhausted and out of my mind, there is no way, in the Founder's name, that I would grant you the acknowledgement and call you by your name in public! '' Louise explained, visibly angered at the lack of judgement that she showed that night. She couldn't grant the woman the simplest of victories.

'' Alright, I'll call you Louise anyway, it's a lot easier, anyway, I'm sure you'll change your mind in due time. '' Kirche says chuckling to the annoyance of the Vallière. Like there was any way that could happen, well, it did happen last night, but she wouldn't slip up twice, she was sure of it.

'' In your dreams. '' She responds to that, Kirche did want to continue the teasing game, but she knew for how long that rabbit hole could go, so she decided to move on to the actual business. She scrolled up for the first spell that was a spell of ice like Tabitha did.

'' Alright, let's move on to business. Let's try a fairly basic ice spell. I'll let you study it for a few minutes before trying, if after a few tries you don't succeed, I think we could probably retire Water/Ice from your potential elements. ''

Louise nodded, it did make sense, although she felt no connection to that in any shape or form, it was at least worth a try. That was the most reasonable idea she ever heard from Kirche's mouth at least.

'' Alright, give me a few and I'll already be a master at it. '' Louise said confidently, Kirche was very doubtful of that, but decided to let her do as she wanted for now and decided to go on a walk for a few minutes while Louise studied that spell the most she could possibly. They had seen that spell in class, during their first year, she remembered that, she couldn't do it back then, so she didn't have much hope. But she would rather die than give up. So she took all her energy to study how it was made and how it was supposed to be executed. Step by step.

After ten minutes or so, the fire mage finally came back from her walk, looking at her familiar.

'' Alright then, are you ready for it? '' Kirche asked

'' Of course I am! Prepare to be amazed! '' Louise declared sounding confident, she was confident to have memorized the spell perfectly at least, she knew what she was supposed to do theorically speaking, When it came to pratical uses well...

The sound of a deafening explosion could be heard straight after Louise tried the spell. Smoke covering the entire field, both of them coughed as their brains were processing what in the world had just happened. They both knew what happened, Louise sighed as she sat on the ground, recovering from the energy and effort it took to cast the spell, which just let to the usual effort. Kirche was doing her very best not to laugh, she wanted to show some good faith so badly, but it was really difficult.

'' Ok... '' She did chuckle a little bit. '' I think we can say easily this didn't work, let's try this with the others I bringed. ''

As the narrator of this story, I will spare you the details, the same events repeat one after the other, it gradually becomes even harder on Louise since she uses a lot of energy one each spells and she grows gradually tired of doing it and causing explosions. It was a very entertaining but also very frustrating spectacle for Kirche. On the one side, it was kinda amusing to see the failures, but it was also becoming a bit sad. At first glance, she couldn't see anything especially wrong in Louise's technique, which made all of it pretty confusing. The reason was, a Dot mage, with proper technique, can master at least one of the elements. So if she seemed to have the technique down, she should have managed to pull off at least one of the spells, so it would make sense to assume she didn't have magic right?

No it didn't make sense either, because without magic, nothing happens. Louise would have cast the spell and only silence would have followed. Obviously, this is not what happened, so that only made the situation even more confusing, it was obvious she had some level of magic understanding and skill, but it seemed it was incompatible with all the elements Kirche knew. Perhaps she wasn't the best teacher possible for her familiar, considering herself was a lot more skilled in the pratical uses of her fire magic than general theorical stuff about magic, which was a field Tabitha would be a lot more skilled in. For some it might be weird that only now the Germanian noticed these things about Louise's magic, but only know was she close enough or paid enough attention to the fact there wasn't anything actually wrong about how she did it. In class, she always thought the Vallière mage was a screw up for failing that many time, but this close, it was obvious it wasn't the case.

Louise for herself, just decided to lay down on the ground. She was grass. She decided that from this day on, she was just grass. Zerbst had just seen her embarrass herself for now, um, maybe an hour or so? That was actually a bit hard to tell. It just felt like everyday she was just sinking deeper and deeper in the pits of failure and shame. Every single spell had failed like they always do, she was expecting her to throw her insults and mockery any minute now like she always does. Nothing, outside of small chuckle that she did hear and she did get irritated by that, it was still not nearly as bad as she expected to be. After a few solid minutes of being grass, she decides to go back to being a human being to see Kirche staring at her, sighing.

'' Okay...uh... not gonna lie, I was hoping one of them would work, but don't worry, I knew how terrible at this magic thing you are, so I have an idea for another plan to how I can make you a little bit less useless as a familiar. ''

That also felt like a bitch slap to Louise's face, but she was also quite curious about what that supposed plan is, the concept of Kirche having any kind of plan that didn't involved a bed was a concept Louise couldn't believe. Although it was too soon to guess this one wouldn't.

'' Really? What is it? '' Louise asked with a faint glim of hope in her eyes. Kirche did like that, if there's one quality she would give the girl is that she didn't seem to stay down very long from failures, that will be very, very helpful for what she has planned for her. If magic isn't an option, she'll have to use something else. That she doesn't have at this direct time.

'' Not gonna spoil the surprise this soon. '' Kirche said chuckling. '' I will teach it to you tomorrow when I will have my material ready. Hopefully I'll be able to make you at least a worthwhile familiar. '' She says raising an eyebrow. Louise sighs, of course, why would she expect to have answers straight awway from her? It seemed that Kirche loved to keep her on her toes.

'' I swear to... fine, sure, tomorrow it is then, what in the world are we supposed to do now? ''

That was an actual good question, Kirche had no idea what to do with Louise, she was probably too tired from this to do actual huge work, so maybe she could make her do something that doesn't required much physical effort, she then smirked evily. That was a look that Louise certainly didn't like one bit.

'' Weeelll, I've had some clothes ordered from home a while back, they arrived recently, but I haven't got a chance to try them yet. Perhaps I would like a judge ~ ''

'' By all that is holy, no. ''

'' Oh sorry, did I made it sound like it was a choice? ''

Before Louise could scream in defiance, she is dragged away by Kirche, now instead being more afraid than anything.

* * *

In another side of the academy, Colbert arrived at the headmaster's office. Still troubled about the events of a few days back, he figured a talk with Osmond was probably the smartest move in this situation. The man had a lot more experience and was probably a lot more wise, he would know what to do in this kind of situation.

The man itself had mostly spent the day wondering what color were the panties his assistant were wearing today. The man was perhaps not as venerable as Colbert would think, but that was a secret only the man himself knew. He jumps a little bit when he hears knocking on the door, he coughs a little bit and gains some composure.

'' You may enter. ''

Colbert entered the headmaster's office, he walked to the desk.

'' I am here about- ''

'' You are here to talk about the case of Louise de la Vallière are you not? '' Osmond interrupted him surprising the teacher.

'' Yes I am, how did you know? ''

'' Even I am aware of the latest news Colbert and I know you wouldn't come to my office unless it was for something serious. ''

Colbert looked a bit embarrassed for doubting his knowledge, but quickly recovered, at least this did spare him having to explain what happened and all those details so he could quickly get to the meat of it.

'' I will be totally honest, I am entirely lost about what to do in this situation. On one hand, she still meets most criterias that are required to study at the academy and she always has been a disciplined student, even if a bit moody, but it was always for understandable reasons, she hasn't done anything that would cause us to expel a student for exemple. '' Colbert then took a few seconds to think.

'' But on the other hand, it is difficult for us to put a familiar at the same level as the students. If we do accept her with the other students, it could lead to some backlash from students and possibly other parents. Not that we didn't have such problems to begin with, but it would certainly make matters worse. ''

Osmond looks at the teacher for a little bit, thinking about what he was told.

'' So what you're wondering is what would be the best choice to make in this situation is it not? I can not blame you for being lost, even I must say this situation is a first and I have seen several weird problems in my days. ''

'' I will say this though. Since there is no precedent to this, there is no wrong or right move to do Colbert. There isn't any rule that says specifically what must be done in the case of a student having another student as familiar. Although, that will certainly something we must add in the future, but as of right now, the only thing I can say to you is, go with what feels like the right thing to you Jean. You're one of the most talented teachers we have in this institution and I have the upmost confidence in your decision making. I know that the choice you feel is the right thing to do, will be the right choice. Therefore, I can't advise you on the right one either way.''

He said all of that, half because he actually believed that and the other half because he had no idea himself what the right choice was in the matter, but he knew that his confidence wouldn't be misplaced in this situation. Colbert nodded, this was the kind of answers he expecting from him but it was still helpful, just knowing that his decision wouldn't be affected by any sort of guidelines or rule was very helpful to know. He did have one last question.

'' What about the parents ? Both for Zerbst and Vallière, what do we do? ''

The headmaster thought about this one for a few minutes before answering.

'' Perhaps it's for the best that the two in questions inform them themselves, it is a pretty major and personal situation, these two most likely know better how to handle this than we would. I would advice them to write to them as soon as possible though. ''

Jean Colbert nodded once more, that though sounded reasonable enough, but he had already made his mind about the situation, he couldn't, with peace of mind, exclude Louise from being a student. She perhaps wasn't the most succesful one, but she was one of the most determined ones, her thrive to learn and get better even in failure. was something the teacher respected a lot. He couldn't turn his back on that, he certainly was worried about the consequences of this situation, but he would find a solution, he just had to, because he owed it to these two.

* * *

****

**There we go! Chapter 3 finally completed! Thank goodness, that took a little bit more than I expected to take. In this chapter, we set up a few storylines that are gonna be explored in the future, just so you guys know that there actually is thoughts and plans behind this whole thing. **

**It's time for the usual, thank you a lot for the feedback. In this chapter, I tried to correct a few of the grammatical mistakes I've made in the first two, but it might still be a bit wacky, I apologize for that, English is not my first language and it probably shows. **

**Kirche and Louise will get along in time, but I don't want it to go neither too fast or too slow, so you will see sometimes where fast progress is made, before some regression starts to show too. I felt this would make things interesting and hopefully it is to you all too. **

**Thank you for reading this story !**

**Xenofan1**


	4. Like a true Germanian

_I do NOT own Zero No Tsukaiama, that's the intellectual property of Noboru Yamaguchi_

* * *

Louise didn't know if life cursed her or blessed her. Most likely a bit of both, although she wouldn't never admit the second one outloud, what was this referring to? Well after yesterday's training, Kirche had dragged her to their room to do exactly as she told, trying out outfits and basically forcing Louise to watch, she totally knew what she was doing. Louise really hoped this would be maybe a few blouse or dresses that she wanted to try, you know, some of these things you rarely wear so you don't really know if they look good or not, so there would be a point to it. That would have been giving Zerbst way too much credit no. So instead she used that opportunity to showcase the most revealing outfits she had. She pretended that it was for her future husband, Louise mostly assumed that it was for the next guy she would try to bed.

Nevertheless, Louise still had to sit through maybe an hour of Kirche's show. She would be lying if she said she didn't secretly enjoy watching Kirche go. Like established earlier, she did think she was an attractive woman, so looking at her curves and seeing her in skimpy outfits was more than a pleasing sight. She just kinda wished it was any woman other than Zerbst, then she would feel less guilty about enjoying it. Wait, for lord's sake, she was thinking about pervy things again, spending so much time with Kirche really was bad influence, the sooner they find a way to separate them the better. As for Kirche, despite what she said, she might have lied a little bit, she pretty much did this because she wanted to show off to Louise, just, not for the reasons she would have before. It was a very interesting evening to say the least, but the two of them already pushed that to the side the following day. Forgetting all about that, for now at the very least.

The day started off exactly like the last one, Louise arriving first at the field, repressing images of Kirche in sexy outfits from her memories. She just wanted one day of peace. She remembered that yesterday she talked about something different from magic they would be trying out, when it came to her, Louise was very suspicious about what kind of tricks she would have under her sleeve. It couldn't be anything good that was for sure.

Waiting for Zerbst once more gave her some time to think. She still hadn't sent any letter to her parents, which is something the teacher Colbert had came yesterday evening to tell them to do. Louise was honestly, very, very scared of sending that letter, because she knew nothing positive would come out of it. Litteraly 0% chances of anything good coming out of that, but she didn't really have much of a choice, if she didn't, the school would and the consequences would be just as bad if not worse if they got the feeling she was trying to hide this from them, which she was. She knew she had at least one sister who would be supportive, but then there was the rest of the family. That was going to hurt and hard. Zerbst probably will have it a lot easier, which pissed her off to no end.

By the way, where was she? Wondered Louise as she realized the Germanian woman was once again, taking quite a long time to get there. Her theory was the same as yesterday's, she was probably getting some morning action, that wouldn't surprise her at all. What did surprise Louise though, was that when Zerbst did show up. She was carrying some bags, which seemed to be relatively heavy, but since she was tall and somewhat muscular, didn't seem that troublesome to her. She was pretty toned, which was something Louise had observed first hand yesterday. She smiled at Louise when she put the bag on the ground, Louise never knew how to feel how she sees her smile, it was always very unsettling considering their history.

'' What's the big surprise that you wanted to teach me Zerbst ? It better not be something indecent like exotic dancing or some crap like that. Because I'm not doing that. ''

That answer took Kirche by surprise who started laughing before dropping the bag on the ground, it made a pretty loud sound so whatever might be in this bag, Louise doubt heavily it was going to be feathers. The Germanian woman opened the bag, Louise took a few steps further to inspect it's content before raising an eyebrow, genuinely surprised. The bag contained what seemed to be steel sets of armors and swords. Of all the things she actually expected, she would have to admit, this was not one of them.

'' Are these yours Zerbst ? '' Louise asked, a bit skeptical. She hadn't seen her wear anything of the sort before, so she figured she must have taken this from someone else.

'' Of course these are ! '' Kirche says bearing a prideful smile on her face as she takes out one of the swords from the bag, the blade was a lot bigger than what Louise what was actually used to. In Tristain, they used thinner blades. Which were mostly used for nobles and fencing. They rarely found an actual use in combat since most of their relatively small military used magic to defend the kingdom, but what Kirche had in her hands was something very different. Just at first glance, she could estimate the blade to be at least 4 ft long, it was a two handed weapon for sure. Kirche put it on the ground in front of Louise, crossing her arms.

'' That is a Zweihänder, in my native language it means _Two-Hander_. I think you can easily understand how to properly handle it, just with that. ''

Louise wasn't exactly sure where she was going with this, heck, she wasn't even sure if she culd herself lift that sword. She can't even recall if she had even used a sword before, outside of toy ones when she was a child, but those times were some she would rather not be thinking of right now.

'' Well, that's interesting and all, but what does that Zwei...thing, has anything to do with anything? ''

Kirche smirked, as she put back the sword into the bag.

'' You see, since obviously you weren't going anywhere with magic yesterday and I don't think I know exactly how to help you with that yet. I decided I'd rather train you with something I do know quite a bit about. Swordmanship. ''

Louise then started to laugh, a lot. The mental image of Kirche picking up a sword and fighting was just so ridiculous in her mind. What was she actually good at ? As far as Louise could tell, that list included two things. Fire magic and looking pretty. She wasn't exactly sure where swordmanship fit in either those categories.

'' Yeah, I'm sure you do. Where would you have even learned that ? Between two make-out sessions with Guiche? '' Louise said to her master with a smirk after a while of laughing. Kirche just shivered at that mental image.

'' Okay, first of all... Ewww, no. He can put his mouth on all the girls he want, but he's not going go near my lips even if he paid me a million. Second, you... really don't know much about my people don't you? '' Kirche asked. Which reminded Louise that, no, she actually knew very little about Germania, not that she actually needed to know that much since she knew that she would never get a position of power with the rate her magical progression was going lately.

'' Okay, to be fair, no I don't. Outside the bare minimum of course. '' Louise admitted, it was a rare day where she would concede a point to Zerbst, but today was one of those and she didn't really find anything to deny it with anyway. Kirche looked surprised at that fact before smiling a bit, she would certainly take that and this gave her a good opportunity to talk about her home, which is also something she would take.

'' Outside of our good looks, we are mostly a very war focused nation. Well, at least we had been in the past. The history of our kingdom is filled with conquests and wars that have made us one of the biggest realms in Halkeginia. We might have lived in peace in recent history, but the traditions are still there, when we are still younglings, both the boys and girls, are trained in the arts of war. The boys mostly of course, spend the most time in that training, from their young age to their early teenage years where they can decide to follow a more traditional scholar path or continue on a more military focused education. Young girls have more the basic training that lasts only a few years, but it is to make us valuable soldiers as well if the time has to come. See that as some sort of draft. In time of war, first there's the voluntary men, then there's a draft for men, then they send voluntary women. At this point, in term of manpower, it's just usually more than enough to win to war, most of the time, it's overkill. ''

Louise listened to Kirche's explanations, sure she didn't ask for a life story, but hearing about a different culture was interesting on an intellectual level. Even if that culture was Zerbst's.

'' And that lead you to be a fire mage... how exactly ? '' Louise asked, because she had no idea what part of that story led to Kirche being a magic student in Tristain

'' Oh I'm glad you asked ! You see, after spending finishing their training in basic swordmanship, we can choose to pursue a magic route. Most of the women tend to go for a more healing path, I wasn't interested in that obviously, tranquility and patience is not exactly my forte. Which were two qualities required for that path, I felt a way bigger connection towards fire magic, since it burns and lives passionately which is something I feel describes me perfectly. '' Kirche took a few seconds to breathe and to make sure Louise was still paying some attention to her, which she was, before continuing.

'' Since our kingdoms are at peace, my family decided that it would be for the best for me to continue my progress at this academy. Not only to improbe my magic, but also to show what a Germanian, and most importantly, what a Zerbst could do. ''

Louise muttered under her breathe things not very positive. The girl certainly had shown what Zerbst could do, but none of those involved magic.

'' Uh, ok, Zerbst, now coming back to these weapons, you said you want to teach me swordmanship ? Why ? '' Louise asked, slightly curious.

'' Easy, like I said, magic is not gonna be a thing, the one thing I think you might be half decent at is melee combat, although, we're gonna have to do it the Germanian way, not the sissy Tristan way. ''

'' Hey ! '' Louise obviously got offended by that, no one would appreciate having their country insulted that bluntly.

'' Be honest with me Louise, when's the last time this kingdom won a war without asking for Germania's help? '' Kirche asked, it was mostly a rhetorical question. Louise opened her mouth to argue before closing it back, as frustrating as it was to admit. Tristain just wasn't a military focused kingdom, they took mostly pride in their culture, their magic and their wealth. There was a reason that kingdoms sent their children here to learn magic of all places, but when it came to actual military, yeah no. War simply wasn't in their culture and that probably was for the best as far as Louise was concerned.

Louise then sighed as she rubbed her temples, how come she was one of the laziest student she's ever seen in class, but when it came to that sort of thing, she seemed to be some sort of scholar.

'' Ok then...what in the world is all of this about ? Are you going to train me with one of these swords or what ? Can we just start with that and not waste both of our time with all that gibberish ? '' Louise said, obviously not in the best of mood after all of this, and honestly, she couldn't say she was thrilled about the idea of Kirche teaching her anything. That was very embarrasing and humiliating in itself, Kirche raised an eyebrow before laughing.

'' Wait... oh ! You thought I was going to teach you with the actual weapons ?! I'm a lot of things, but I'm not that careless. I wouldn't want my sweet familiar to hurt herself while using a weapon that she hasn't mastered yet ! I brought them only for purpose of presentation of what you will work with in the future. For the time being you will be working with this ! '' The Germanian redhead says as she brings out wooden weapons out of her bags.

'' What ? Wooden weapons ? That's the kind of stuff kids play with ! I'm not a kid ! '' She says clenching her teeth. Kirche decided to try and cool her down a bit, as she picked up one of the weapons and invited her to do so, which she did.

'' I know you're not, but one step at the time right ? Like in bed, you need to start with the small details, making sure you are comfortable before you can get to the real intense stuff... '' Kirche said with a smirk on her face, which irritated Louise, but at the same time, did make her chuckle a bit. She knew she'd do one of those sooner or later. She picked up the weapon and stared at Zerbst

'' What now ? '' She asked, wondering where the training would actually start with.

'' Attack me. '' Kirche answered, with the most serious Louise had ever seen her with. Without any hesitation either, which threw Louise off guard.

'' Wait what ? Really? '' Louise really wanted to make sure she heard correctly, her hands tightening around her sword, already preparing to charge, looking foward to release some frustrations.

'' Yeah sure, give me your best shot. '' Kirche said with calm smile as she took position, holding her swords with two hands. Looking straight at Louise, focused like an eagle. Louise smiled with joy as she ran towards Kirche, there was maybe a few meters that separated them, she raised her sword above her head preparing to strike down upon her eternal enemy. Then as she swang down, Kirche quickly moved down to her side, countering Louise's attack by raising her sword horizontally above her head, as their two swords clashed, the Germanian who knew she had way more strength in muscles and in her current position, was easily able to swat her sword away, as Louise, fell forward to the ground, having lost her balance after being countered. Kirche triumphantly sat down upon the poor confused girl's back with a smirk. Which was of course, simply to drove her point across, to humiliate and humble the Vallière girl further.

Louise looks extremely confused as she had no idea what had just happened right now. All she knew right now was the weight of the taller girl upon her, which made her blush. That was a very embarrassing position, but that humiliation also made her feel funny a bit. But now right now was not the time of think of such disturbing thoughts as she recovered from the shock and started struggling.

'' Hey get off me you well endowed cow ! '' She says screaming, frustrated.

'' Well endowed ? Oh my, that's the first compliment I get from you I'll take it. '' Kirche said with a laugh as she got off her. '' I hope you understood what my point was here. '' Louise then fumed.

'' No I don't ! I don't even know what just happened ! '' She says visibly frustated and angry of how that thing had turned out.

'' Louise, that was a test. My point was to show how much way you have to go, did you really expect to hurt someone who has years of experience with your first try, the first time you try a sword ? '' Kirche said raising an eyebrow, Louise got where she was going with that and she mostly curses to herself to have played herself basically, she knew that opportunity was too good to be true. She hits the ground with her feet in frustration. It seemed that no matter what she tried, Zerbst would always be there to show off how much better she was than her. She hated her for that, she hated her so much. As she was fuming, she doesn't notice Kirche getting behind her, then putting her hands on the pink girl's hips.

'' Come on Louise, don't be sad. Everyone has to start somewhere, I'll show you how to properly position yourself first. '' Kirche was barely a few inches apart from Louise's ear, and it gives her chills, she wonders if that was the same voice she gave guys she encountered, if so, that explained quite a lot. Her master continued her explanation, not getting further.

'' First, you need to stand your feet more apart, they need to be shoulder width apart, one of your biggest mistake in your first try was neglecting that, like that, you lacked the proper balancing to throw your attack, hence me being able to disarm you and you falling to the ground. Second... '' She moved Louise's hips to move the position of her body. '' One of your foot needs to be forward, we'll use your right foot in this case since you are right handed. As you move your body should body should move up or down depending if you're retreating or attacking. But your head should never move, always keep it steady. You understand so far? '' Kirche asked, Louise nodded, she was mostly amazed that she was actually a kinda decent teacher, and as said before, she had a very enchanting voice that commanded Louise to listen to her. Like before, the warmth of her body really helped Louise relax and focus, even though she could feel her chest touching the back of her neck. She was so into the zone of the training, she wasn't even gonna comment on it.

They continued the training for at least what seemed to be an eternity, but not in a bad way per say. It was one of the rare good moments they had ever shared together, and Louise secrely wished it lasted longer and Kirche genuinely enjoyed showing the basis of swordmanship to Louise. They ended when they realized it was lunch time, meaning they had spent most of the morning dedicated to that training. Louise felt the exhaustion and hunger as they had finished. She sat down on the ground panting. Kirche came with a smile looking at her familiar.

'' You did great Louise for a first training, I think we're onto something. I don't know if I'm the teacher you need to teach you magic, but what I can teach you, I'll make sure you become one of the best at it ! '' Kirche said with an optimistic smile, she never thought she would ever compliment or feel optimisim about the girl she used to call Zero, but with this. She knew there was something there, a combativity and a passion that only wanted to come out and fight. If someone could get the passion out of someone, it was Kirche and she knew that was the aspect she could and would train Louise with. Louise also smiled, which was a shocker honestly, even for herself. She never thought she would ever give a Zerbst a genuine smile, but her she was, she had a legitimate good time there and that, was something she couldn't deny. She was actually curious of where this would all lead. This was perhaps an horrible situation in itself, but this morning showed that perhaps, she could gain something from it.

'' I'm looking forward to it... '' She then remembered how hungry she was. '' Can we go it now K... Zerbst ? '' She almost slip out and said the K word, which was something Kirche noticed, Louise almost regretted not saying it, but she knew she still had an image to keep and it was not confusing new feelings that were gonna change that.

'' Of course darling. '' Kirche said with a teasing smile before lifting Louise back to her feet and leading her towards the dining area, arm in arm. Something was growing, but neither, well, at least one of them was still unaware of exactly what and what kind of consequences it would have.

* * *

**Thank goodness I finally finished that chapter ! Sorry for the long wait for that one, for the longest time I had a huge writer's block for that one. Well, that and school starting once again of course. In this chapter, Louise starts to learn how to use swords, yay ! And also more of those strange intrusive thoughts... if any of you wonder, I am using an aspect that I found in the lore to my advantage here, not just making stuff up because I feel like it. **

**Although, this is also the chapter where I decided what I exactly wanted to do, also why it took so long. I don't want to force any canon in a story that just in its nature, derives so far from it. That's why I'll make up a lot of what happens in this story and also some of the lore I feel the show hasn't really explore from what I've seen or at least what I can find. Keeping in mind I haven't read the light novels.**

**This probably isn't a perfect chapter, but I still am happy of how it ended up and I hope you will all enjoy reading it too !**

**Xenofan1**


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